shearing sheep

On my last work day at Victory Acres Farm, the sheep shearer showed up. He came from Wabash county and had already sheared 52 sheep in Hartford City. He was very gracious to come to our farm to sheer the mere four that we had acquired a few weeks back. It couldn't have been worth his time, I'm assuming. But sometimes when you know someone who knows someone, grace befalls.

The wool from the Hartford City 52. The shearer says he can only get 17 cents a pound for their wool.

It really was amazing to watch the wool come off in masses. These particular sheep are Merino Sheep. Their wool has a very high content of lanolin. An oily residue remains on your fingers after touching it. As opposed to the 17 cents per pound that the shearer could get for the Hartford City 52, he can get about 50 cents a pound for the merino wool.

The sheep were very cooperative, though I'm guessing they miss their warm wool about right now. Here is the silly looking outcome of all that shearing. A little before and after shot.